Letters to the editor - July 1, 2013

Published: Sunday, June 30, 2013 at 11:09 p.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, June 30, 2013 at 11:09 p.m.

Like so many Wilmingtonians, we are saddened by the wave of teen violence in our area, and by the recent death of a local 17-year old boy. This is happening in our town, to our kids.

Many of your readers may feel powerless, but as health care professionals we feel compelled to share information about a time-tested and scientifically proven intervention that is a win for impoverished kids and parents, for law enforcement and government officials, and budget-minded and safety-conscious taxpayers.

As reported in the New York Times, the Washington Post and USA Today, the Nurse Family Partnership pairs first-time moms with experienced nurses during pregnancy to improve prenatal health, school readiness, academic achievement, maternal employment and reduce child abuse, early childhood injuries, mental health problems and crime as these children grow in to their teen years. The intervention starts early in pregnancy when the fetal brain is developing and leads to improved pregnancy outcomes that become accumulated exponentially during childhood and teenage years.

The program has been replicated under the most rigorous scientific standards for 30 years. Every dollar invested saves a community $5-plus in future expenses for social services and emergency health care.

Eleven counties in North Carolina have wisely invested in NFP. It’s time for New Hanover County to do the same. Contact your local officials and advocate for this important program.

Laura Schultz and Jessica Cannon, Wilmington

Laura Schultz is a certified nurse midwife; Jessica Cannon is a physician.

Fund tobacco cessation

Most tobacco users became addicted before age 26. In North Carolina, more than 11,000 kids under the age of 18 become new daily smokers each year. In recent years, declines in youth smoking rates have stalled and the use of other tobacco products by youth has actually increased. Despite these trends, our state’s tobacco prevention and cessation programs received drastic cuts in funding.

Research has shown that tobacco prevention and cessation programs help adults quit and prevent kids from ever starting the deadly habit. Tobacco use costs our state $2.46 billion a year in health care bills. Tobacco prevention programs can reduce these costs.

State lawmakers are in the process of debating next year’s budget. Their current proposals do not provide one dime for tobacco prevention programs in North Carolina. Tobacco prevention isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s the smart thing to do. … Our legislators should realize that this is a win-win idea. Programs can decrease long-term health care costs and protect our children by funding tobacco prevention with money that is already coming into our state from the tobacco settlement agreement, more than $140 million this year alone.

Snowden, Assange no heroes

Portraying Edward Snowden and Julian Assange as harmless whistleblowers is dangerously na´ve. These people are traitors who have leaked secret information vital to our security and diplomacy. To argue that these smug, self-serving twits are acting as public servants keeping us safe from our government is absurd.

I served in the military for 20 years. To be granted secret clearance required a background check that asked everyone who was ever a neighbor or work associate the most intimate and personal questions about your behavior and habits ...Once you were reassigned to another task, your clearance was revoked. If you later were assigned to a secret task, you needed a new clearance.

We need to address the following: How were these two individuals able to obtain such a vast amount of classified data? Why do we need so many contracted civilian workers with secret clearance? How do people with access to secret material manage to put copies on personal computers? Why is secret data stored in a secure area accessible to hackers outside the area?